The Wayland High Paw Print Press

Director Tim BurtonWhy darkness has stayed in the light for so long

Thursday, March 04, 2004 By MIKE SNYDER

Tim Burton has been creeping out viewers for the better part of two decades. From his films “Edward Scissorhands” to “Sleepy Hollow,” Burton, has been coming up with some of the most interesting stories ever. However his new movie, “Big Fish” may not be as creepy as most but it’s still, to say the least, a little weird. But what makes Tim Burton better than other directors though? Well he is known for several things. He is a very gifted animator and he did a brilliant job on “The Nightmare before Christmas”. He has some of the most ingenious ideas and views ever, including “James and the Giant Peach” which shows Burton’s take on the classic tale which is a little bit darker. And his sets which include the bright and happy suburbia in “Edward Scissorhands” and the creepy afterworld in “Beetlejuice”. Burton was born on August 25, 1958; he grew up in Burbank, California, where he was always more of an outcast, which reflects in his works. He grew up watching old horror movies starring his idol Vincent Price. He also spent much of his time drawing to express himself, one such popular character was a boy with scissors for hands. In 1976, he was awarded a scholarship to California Institute of Art. By 1979 he had decided that he wanted to be an animator and went to work on “The Fox and the Hound” for Disney. Also while working there he made the 5 minute long short film “Vincent” which was a tribute to Vincent Price, he also made “Frankenweenie” which was another short film, this one being 27 minutes, which was his own adaptation of “Frankenstein”. Unfortunately both of these films were shelved because they were considered to be inappropriate for children. However, the short films caught the eye of Paul Reuben who would ask Burton to direct his feature debut “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”. “Pee Wee” was a surprise hit with critics and audiences which started Tim Burton’s rise to power. After doing “Beetlejuice” in 1988 he was trusted with the power of creating “Batman”. He then used his success as a way to create more personal films, and my personal favorite, “Edward Scissorhands”. “Edward Scissorhands” was the start of a wonderful relationship between Burton and actor Johnny Depp,22 who has starred in several of Burton’s movies such as “Ed Wood” and “Sleepy Hollow”. Burton has had a mostly successful career however like all directors they have their share of bad ones. Burton’s would include “Mars Attacks” and “Planet of The Apes (2001)”. If you are interested in seeing some of Tim’s best movies I would suggest seeing “A Nightmare before Christmas,”“Edward Scissorhands,” and his most recent movie, which is currently in theaters, “Big Fish”. All of these movies show him at his best. Also be sure to watch for Burton in the news because Big Fish should be coming out on video sometime in the spring. Also Burton has announced that he will be making a remake of the classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” called “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which will hopefully be a darker version of “Willy Wonka.” “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” has a target date for June 2005, and of course it will star Johnny Depp.